The Balbriggan/North County Dublin Perpetual Trophy was given out this year to a very special recipient! To give a little bit of background if you are not aware, the award began due to one couple Ned and Máire Maguire from Dolahesy just outside of Balbriggan. The couple were great for our branch on the Facebook of the 80’s/90’s as they informed people as to what a guide dog is and what a guide dog does, they took part in sponsored walks and went door to door fundraising for our branch, to name a few of their amazing contributions. When Ned passed away, our branch sourced a trophy to represent a litter of puppies with their mother and each year, the trophy is given to a person or business that has done something that stands out to our Branch during the year. The latest recipient of the Perpetual Trophy was Patrick Baxter (Hucky) of Baxter’s Butchers, Clonard Street, Balbriggan who has volunteered at church gate collections, pub rambles and sells an amazing amount of our Christmas Cards and Calendars every year in his butcher shop on Clonard Street. A huge congratulations to Patrick and thank you for all that you do. Everyone will know that the Balbriggan/North County Dublin branch of Guide Dogs has a Facebook page. However, you may be unaware and interested to know that we also have an Instagram and Twitter (recently rebranded as X) page. Instagram is a free photo and video sharing app where the branch regularly posts photos and videos of events and upcoming fundraisers. If you would like to follow us or have a look at our Instagram page, you can find us with the handle @balbrigganbranchguide. Twitter/X is a free social networking site where users can broadcast short posts known as tweets and repost to share other people’s tweets. These tweets contain text, photos, videos, or links which we also frequently update with the latest Branch information. If you would like to follow our page on Twitter/X you can find us with the handle @BranchGuide. If you are interested in volunteering with us, please feel free to contact us: Balbriggan/North County Dublin Branch of Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind, by phone/text: 085 7663107, email: guidedogsbalbriggan@gmail.com or you can find us on Facebook: Balbriggan Branch of Guide Dogs.

Would you have an hour to spare on a Tuesday, Thursday or Saturday morning? If you would like to help out Balbriggan Meals on Wheels as a Volunteer Driver, please get in touch by calling 01 8416743 or emailing mealsonwheelsbalbriggan@gmail.com. Balbriggan Meals on Wheels has been providing meals to the most vulnerable members of our community since 1975 and was awarded the Community Hero of the Year at the recent Balbriggan Town Awards.

Get together with your neighbours to share food and enjoy some conversation and camaraderie this summer. Annual weekend of street parties and communities’ lunches. It doesn’t matter if you live in an apartment or house, all you need is a space to bring people together. Fingal County Council say people have had feasts organised in front gardens, on streets and greens, in car parks, laneways, local parks and community centres and can’t wait to see what you come up with! Registrations with Fingal County Council opened in February 2024. Once you have registered, you’ll receive your FREE Street Feast party pack, complete with bunting, posters, invites and a brilliant DIY guide! Fingal County Council ask that you host your Street Feast on the weekend of 25th – 26th May. So contact the Council now!

Fianna Fáil selected local woman Sinéad Lucey Brennan as its candidate in the Balbriggan LEA, to contest the Local Elections in 2024, following a Selection Convention last June. Since her selection as Fianna Fail’s candidate, Sinéad has been working tirelessly for the people of Balbriggan, Balrothery and the rural areas around those towns. She is a member of many committees and groups in the area. Sinéad comes to her candidacy with a strong background in local issues and a wealth of experience in both the tech sector and disability advocacy. She is originally from Cork and lives locally with her husband, Darran from Donegal, and their young daughter. Commenting on Sinéad’s candidacy, Minister Darragh O’Brien said: “Sinéad is exactly the kind of young, exciting and dynamic candidate Balbriggan needs. She is determined to help build a brighter future for the town as it undergoes unprecedented change and growth. I am excited to support her candidacy and look forward to working with her in the future.” Sinéad said “This is a great honour for me and I want to thank the members for their support and everyone who collaborated to make this happen. As a young working mum, I understand the needs of people and where I can support their future success and growth. My family and I have chosen to put down roots in this beautiful part of the world and I am excited about delivering and working for the people living in Balbriggan and the Local Electoral Area.”

Balbriggan & District Historical Society is looking forward to a new year of activities and we would be delighted if you can join us. For our first talk on March 27th, we welcome Skerries native Gerard Shannon for a talk on Liam Lynch titled - To Declare a Republic: The life of Liam Lynch, IRA Chief of Staff, 1892-1923.

General Liam Lynch was one of the most important republican leaders of the Irish revolutionary period. Hailing from rural Limerick, Lynch proved himself an accomplished guerrilla commander of the IRA’s Cork No. 2 Brigade in north Cork, masterminding important operations against British forces during the War of Independence. Following the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty, Lynch soon established him as a chief opponent to the settlement, seeing it as a betrayal of the Irish republican cause. On becoming leader of the anti-Treaty IRA at the outset of the Irish Civil War, Lynch was a major driving of republican resistance to the emerging Irish Free State, with his death in April 1923 ultimately signalling an end to the military fighting of the conflict. This talk from Gerard Shannon, author of the most recent biography of Lynch, explores the life of this fascinating figure.

Bio – Gerard Shannon is a public historian of the Irish revolutionary period from Skerries and has a MA in History from the DCU School of History and Geography. His first book, ‘Liam Lynch: To Declare a Republic’, was published in March 2023 from Merrion Press and featured on the non-fiction best seller lists. He is currently developing a biography of IRA leader Rory O’Connor, to see publication in early 2025.
For our April talk on the 24th we welcome local historian and Committee member our own Jim Walsh for a talk on the tragedy of the Bolingbroke children in 1930. His talk will focus on their death in a fire in Balbriggan, and the impact on the Bolingbroke family and the community of a tragedy remembered in Balbriggan almost a century later.

On May 29th we welcome Aiden Arnold for a talk based on his recent book Barnewall de Berneval - 800 years of a Norman Irish family. As we all know the Barnewall family were associated with Bremore Castle in Balbriggan so this will be of huge interest.

All our talks take place in the Bracken Court Hotel at 8pm on the last Wednesday of the month, and all are welcome. Membership is €15 or €10 for seniors or you can pay €5 for any individual talk. For any information see balbrigganhistory.com

Please join Balbriggan Sustainable Energy Community CLG and the ORS energy team for the launch of the Balbriggan Energy Master Plan on Thursday March 7th 18.00 - 20.00 in the Bracken Court Hotel. Hear about the home and community building energy audits and the results of our Home Energy Survey. Learn about energy use in Balbriggan and new projects that will help Balbriggan transition to a low carbon community. The launch is supported by the Progressive Credit Union and thanks to the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland for the grant funding. We hope to see you there.

Many thanks to all the dancers, parents and teachers for the wonderful support for Balbriggan Feis 2024. It truly was an amazing Irish Dancing weekend. Thanks to our adjudicating panel - Mr Eugene Smith, Ms Belinda Murphy, Ms Briege Crawford, Mr Damian O’Neill, Ms Catherine Maher and Ms Minette Kieran for working tirelessly and flexibly through the weekend. We were also delighted to have the wonderful music from Mr Kevin Warren. We had great help from family, friends and teacher colleagues - we couldn’t have done it without ye! Parents and dancers from the Mc FOS School (and former dancers) were also brilliant - thank you all. Clann Mhuire GFC are always great to work with and volunteers help set up the hall, look after the carpark and the shop and help in every way they can. We look forward to letting you know about the proceeds that go to the Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind. Thank you one and all and we look forward to seeing you again in 2025. All the best, Damien, Ann and all the team.

Councillor Brendan Ryan (Lab) spoke directly to the National Transport Authority (NTA) at a meeting in County Hall in February about the ongoing issues with the 101X/101 service between Balbriggan/Balrothery and the City Centre. “I welcome the improved service on the 101 but there are capacity pinch points at peak times which need to be addressed, particularly on the 101X” he said. “The three issues I want to raise with you today are: commuters waiting for the early morning 101X being regularly left behind, Flemington Lane stop being removed from the service, and the IFSC Stop 101971 being removed from the return service without consultation and without any sense of logic” he continued. “In your press release on 3th May, launching the East Coast Commuter Corridor, you indicated that double decker’s would be introduced on the 101X service but we have yet to see them and they would be the solution to the “leaving behind” problem at Balrothery.” Cllr Ryan also made the case for restoring the 101X stop at Flemington Lane which served the many estates off Flemington Lane before the introduction of the East Coast Corridor. “It’s hardly an enhancement of the service” he said. And, in relation to the IFSC stop being taken off the 101X return service he said: “This makes no sense at all. The majority of people using the service work in the IFSC and they have to leave early from work to walk the 10-12 minute journey to the alternative stops. The IFSC stop 101971 continues to be used for other Bus Eireann services such as the 100X. So, it definitely defies logic” Cllr Ryan urged the NTA to work with Bus Eireann to try to resolve these issues which are affecting commuters from Balbriggan and Balrothery.

Cllr Tom O’Leary has welcomed some good news for Balbriggan population 25,000 with 8000 in school-100 New Jobs and prospects of enticing a major FDI Foreign Direct Investment Business into Balbriggan from the Pharma and Med Tech sector. Cllr Tom O’Leary said, “ I am happy to have played a key role in facilitating the plans of HPL Hannon Pharma Link to establish a key base for this new high tech best practice Pharma Logistics Company HPL that can deliver “ door to door” anywhere in Europe within 72 Hours and door to door in the UK within 24 Hours. I expect this independent company to “ do a Ryanair “ on pharma distribution across Europe and beyond. I hope that with this key lean Pharma Distribution Co HPL located in Balbriggan along the North/South economic corridor that we can land a large Pharmaceutical Company into Balbriggan like the WUXI Vaccination company in Dundalk that employs 600 in top quality jobs. Cllr Tom O’Leary also continued, “Fingal Co Council along with local Councilors and key stakeholders are working on a plan via an EU Collaboration scheme with 8 EU cities as partners to develop a key landbank in Balbriggan for thousands of new jobs there. The location of HPL Hannon Pharma Link is a key strategic step on that journey to bring local employment opportunities to Balbriggan and Fingal.”

Cllr Tom O’Leary added, “This deal involves a land swap where Fingal Co Council will acquire a key strategic 12 acres at the Blakes Cross Junction R127Lusk Road / R132 Swords Road. I am calling on Fingal Co Council now to fast track the upgrade of this junction and make it safe for everyone. There have been too many accidents at this location.

Recently Balbriggan FC had the pleasure of hosting Balbriggan native Diane Caldwell, the talented and experienced Republic of Ireland and FC Zürich Frauen defender. Diane generously shared her knowledge and expertise with the players, providing invaluable insights and tips on the game. She also took the time to take pictures and sign autographs. It was fantastic to have such an outstanding player visit the club and a memorable experience for all of us.